iPhone 6 Reviews

…and they’re largely united. Read on to see what the technology experts are saying about Apple’s latest handset, and self-confessed “most beautiful phone ever made”.

The Telegraph’s Head of Technology Matt Warman found that although no one single feature stands out, “the combination shows Apple once again doing what it does best: reinventing and repackaging existing ideas into a new, improved iPhone that hits rivals out of the park.

“There are countless things the iPhone 6 does not do: there’s no 4K video, there’s no higher pixel count than rival models and there’s no HD audio, to name but a few. But that’s to miss the point,” he says.

“Apple’s iPhone is the device that revolutionised the smartphone; the iPhone 6 is not so big an innovation as that. But it’s as close as the company has come to a flawless reinvention.”

Charles Arthur at the Guardian called the iPhone 6 “a beautifully made phone that finally reaches the screen size that many have hankered for from an iPhone, without sacrificing quality.”

In particular, he singles the aesthetic out for praise. “What Apple does, and what it charges for: design. Jony Ive’s team has had eight previous goes at designing phones, and now they’re getting a real design language together, particularly about roundedness,” he says, adding that in comparison to the iPhone 6, Samsung’s new Galaxy Alpha handset – the company’s “most beautiful” phone – feels like it came out of a cut-price Christmas cracker.”

The increased size of the iPhone 6 – at 4.7-inches, compared to the 5s’ 4-inch display – has been a topic of much discussion. Given Apple’s steadfast determination to dominate the smaller-screened luxury end of the smartphone market, the decision to launch larger models has been met with not so much surprise, as scepticism as to whether the company can dethrone Samsung as leader in a (quite literally) wider field.

They needn’t worry, says TechRadar’s Gareth Beavis. “There will be some that will miss that screen size, maintaining that they don’t want a bigger display on their phone – but nearly all of those people won’t have spent any appreciable time with a larger device, and I believe that a good portion of you thinking you need a smaller phone will quickly come to appreciate the power a bigger handset brings without hurting quality,” he says.

“While the iPhone 6 might not be the most powerful, most attractive, best at photography or best for battery life, Apple has put it all together in a way that, if you can forgive the price (and that’s a big if), offers a phone that should be at the sharp end of your consideration for your next smartphone.”

“No faux leather, no plastic parts – it’s what a modern phone should look like,” is the verdict of Matt Hill from T3. “Alas, where the iPhone 6 wins in manageability and functionality, it loses out a tad in resolution, with the 1334×750 display not full-HD like its statement sibling, or many of its Android rivals,” he adds, “Yet it’s an undeniably desirable smartphone – I’d argue back on top of the design league after the HTC One M8 trumped the iPhone 5s last year – that produces the consistent and classy experience you expect from Apple, with increasingly powerful software packed on to a scaled-up modern mobile.”

“Looking at specs alone, it’s a miracle Apple sells any iPhones,” says David Phelan for Stuff. “It’s not a mega-screened wannabe phablet. It’s not a 2K-display-packing pixel king. It’s not the most powerful phone ever, it’s not the most megapixelly phone ever, it’s not even the longest-lastingest phone ever. The best Androids still beat it on all these counts.”

But what it is, Phelan maintains, is the best iPhone ever. “The iPhone 5s, for all its qualities, didn’t do enough to put Apple back on top. It just lagged too far behind its Android rivals in key areas. But the iPhone 6, with its combination of fresh new form factor, the upcoming links to desktop via Yosemite and the promise of Apple Pay, might just do the trick.”

In comparison, the 5s looks ” bland, bulky, and out of date”, agrees Pocket-Lint’s Stuart Miles. “Importantly…it feels like a big upgrade, , something that iPhone owners are going to want to upgrade to.”
The camera is another notable improvement, he says, generating good, consistent results with less noise and a sharper focus than its predecessor.

“All the features you will find on the iPhone 6 can be found elsewhere in the Android or Windows Phone world, but not always in such a fluid and easy-to-use way,” Miles adds. “With iOS 8 and the new screen size, Apple has pretty much removed all excuses not to upgrade from older devices, as well as making the iPhone 6 a phone that’s difficult to ignore for those on other platforms.”